Sunday, September 13, 2015

The 2014 RyMickey Awards - Best Scene

With the exception of naming my Best Pictures of the year, Best Scene is typically my favorite category as I remember back on particular moments in films that stood out to me in the prior year. While I certainly have some great scenes below, this year I found this category a little wanting with four films with two scenes in the Top 15 (so that's four films taking up more than half the slots in the top this year). In a year where I actually saw quite a few good films (more than in years past if my ratings are any indication), they lacked those "WOW" moments that really made me want to rewind and watch them again. Still, you'll find quite a few winning moments listed below with the number one slot reserved for a film you've yet to see pop up in any RyMickey Award category yet.

After a crazy weekend, Ethan wakens to find his wife Sophie making him bacon and eggs. But Sophie never allowed Ethan to have bacon. So is Sophie "Sophie 1" (his wife?) or "Sophie 2" (the "imposter" from the weekend?)? We're left cleverly hanging. (SoN)

Classical music plays. Wanda's smoking a cigarette and taking a bath. Then she puts on a jacket and JUMPS! What??? While it's completely understandable that this is the route her character would take, it still shocked me immensely. (SoN)

Many people like the film's final scene which is a stellar one, but I'm a fan of the first time we meet Professor Fletcher in the classroom. He starts off über-pleasant asking Miles Teller about his parents, finding out details that are seemingly innocent, but then uses against him mere minutes later when he begins throwing chairs at his head.

While the scene above is heartbreaking as it is, it's followed by a quiet moment when Dr. King meets Jimmie's grandfather (Supporting Actor contender Henry G. Sanders) at the morgue that is just gut-wrenching. And then that's followed by King's exquisite elocution at Jimmie's memorial service. These scenes make for an incredibly powerful segment of the film.

The innocence that's taken away in this moment is just painful. The opening scene of Selma is a power-packed punch in the gut as an explosion demolishes the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. BAM! Darkness with flashes of shots of limbs floating across the screen in slow motion. A fantastically shot moment by director Ava DuVernay.

The reason I loved 2011's The Muppets is the joy that enveloped every scene. Muppets Most Wanted couldn't live up to that joie de vivre. However, this is truly the one moment in the 2014 film that exuded that same effervescence. While the above clip is actually a music video of the moment with songwriter Bret McKenzie taking the place of the Kermit-doppleganger Constantine who is trying to woo Miss Piggy into being his bride. Over a year later, I still remember the huge grin on my face seeing this unfold on the screen. I only wish the entire film would've been as amazing as this.